The 5th World Water Forum held at the newly inaugurated Sutluce Conference Center and Feshane on the two sides of the Golden Horn in Istanbul March 16 – 22, 2009 lasted for seven full days. Along with the presentations, declarations and demonstrations, there was also a Water Forum Expo and Fair in the Feshane and in a huge tent next to the centre. The Forum ended on March 22 Sunday with several Ministerial and Mayoral declarations.

There were five top-level, seven regional and over 100 thematic panels, some held at other venues including the Ciragan Palace Hotel. Many reports were issued; the Turkey Water Report (1), The UN World Water Development report, OECD Water Management Report, the European Environment Agency’s Water Report and hundreds of other Reports and publications. A beautiful book on the water being the source of life, quoted from various documents, “Belgelerin Kaynagindan, Hayatin Kaynagi”, published by the State Archives Directorate, was also available together with a book by ISKI, “Water and Culture – diverse water cultures,” all of which could form a library in itself. The official publication of The Secretariat of the 5th World Water Forum with delegate papers (150 pages) was also distributed (2).

Although there were differences of opinion as to how many attended and whether the Forum achieved its goal, it was quite a conference and a great accomplishment for the organizers and the presenters from Turkey and many countries around the World. According to semi-official count, over close to 30,000 professionals, reporters, volunteers and interested people from 155 countries attended the presentations on every aspect of water, sanitation and visited the expo and the fair where all kinds of equipment and services were exhibited. The Japanese and Korean stands were distributing “water in a bottle” that came from the tap in Tokyo and Seoul, next to others, including the Kizilay manufactured pure water. There were also protests by the local and international NGOs demonstrating against the privatization of water. 

The aim, as mentioned by the organizers and in the opening addresses by the President of Turkey, Minister of Environment and Forestry, President of the World Water Council Mr. Loic Fauchon and other speakers including the Crown Prince of Japan, was to strive for clean water and sanitation around the globe and “Bridging Divides For Water”. However, the forum’s conclusions showed a significant divide in opinion when the “right to clean water” was acknowledged only as “a necessity for life”, forgetting that water is part of life during the entire span from birth to date and a bucket of water is thrown as people say farewell...

The subject of water and the issues facing almost every country is enormous, from dams and reservoirs to drinking water and sanitation, which will be studied, discussed and argued about in the coming months and years, as has been done in the previous years. The Minister of Energy will be holding a Press Conference on April 3rd to discuss the accomplishments of the Water Forum and also the status of ongoing and future water projects. Some of these will be mentioned in this seventh and final commentary on the World Water Forum prepared mainly for the benefit of those who could not attend the Forum.

Dam on the Asi River which originates in Syria and flows through Hatay

One subject which was discussed during several sessions where attendees had to sit in the aisles and stand to listen was ‘’Transboundary Waters and Turkey.’’ Turkey wants to use water resources to build peace rather than create tension between her neighbors. Turkey is cooperating with Iraq and Syria over the shared waters of Firat (Euphrates) and Dicle (Tigris) rivers with technical experts from the three countries meeting to assure cooperation.  One project currently under discussion is the “Asi Friendship Dam” to be built on the Asi River which originates in Syria and flows through Hatay and joins Mediterrenean Sea near Samandag. Ministers from both sides have signed a protocol for this project.

There are also plans to build a dam on the Meric River shared by Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. The discussions are ongoing but not much has been achieved to date.

Youth Forums

The most interesting and curious participants at the 5th World Water Forum were the many youngsters from different countries. There was a Youth Forum (Ages 16 – 25), which had a busy agenda and lasted the whole week, which was an excellent idea. They were allowed to attend the sessions and make a 10-minute presentation on their views.

There were also several very young attendees and a few young students who accompanied their parents to the largest fair that took place in Turkey. The youngest was a 7-month-old baby, which I read about in one of the newspapers complete with a photograph of the British father and the Mexican mother. Evidently, they met at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico and got married. I met several Mexican participants at a Cafe near Ayhan Isýk St. where the final party was to take place, who shared their observations of the Forum. Then there was Mahmut, a 10-year-old boy from Iran with his father and mother. Since none of them spoke English, I could not say much, just ‘’hello and welcome to Turkey.’’

A participant from UNESCO, from South Carolina who has lived in different countries including Australia, and now calls Hague, Holland their home, was accompanied by her 13-year-old daughter. She said that her husband is an engineer but could not come to Istanbul with them. When I told the Project Manager that it was wonderful that she had brought her daughter to the Forum, she shared some of her observations from the Forum. She said that a short documentary on Turkey and Istanbul before the opening ceremonies or during the first day would have given the attendees an idea about the country of Turkey and brief history. She said that there were several cultural activities but she either had no time or could not locate the place due to vast size of the forum venues located on both sides of the Golden Horn.

Alternate Water Forum at Bilgi University Santral Istanbul campuse

Representatives of several countries, including Turkey and the US, held a three-day alternate Forum where they signed a separate document recognizing water as “a human right.” They also asked the United Nations to organize the future Water Forums and not by private organizations such as World water Council. One of the attendees, James Leape from the World Wildlife Fund criticized the ‘’World water Forum declaration stating that it is more of a collection of platitudes rather than a plan for action.

2010 Istanbul the Culture Capital of Europe

There were many organizations providing information on their activities and active projects. One of these was the “2010 Istanbul The Culture Capital of Europe”, distributing many publications, without mentioning the future of this great project which lost most of its top administrators when they resigned in protest of no one knows openly. This in itself is a subject that requires several pages to explain, but not the water forum commentary.

Coverage of the Water Forum in the Media and the Sutluce Conference Center

I am not sure if the people of Istanbul or many around the country were aware of the Forum and the declarations which will have an impact on everyone’s life. There were only two newspapers present at the Forum and a Daily report was issued by the Secretariat. There must have been over one thousand reporters from around the world with a huge Press centers with internet, many computers with the picture of Sultan Mehmet and Mosques, and a few of Ataturk, on their front screen. A room was full of photocopy machines lined like the elephants of Hannibal, ready to make copies after copies; oblivion of the fact that may be a million trees will be destroyed by the time the printing stops.

Overall, this was a wonderful Water Forum which will be talked about for many years in many countries and hopefully in Turkey too. It is sad that the three Yeditepe University Students that I met at the polling station on Sunday’ Local elections had not even heard of the Forum.